On, Wisconsin (“Progressives” 0-for-4 In Birthplace Of Progressivism)

Among other things, Wisconsin is known as the “birthplace of Progressivism.” That’s important to remember.

The 2010 elections were very good for Wisconsin Republicans. One of the most Liberal members of the US Senate lost his bid for re-election to a Republican. The Wisconsin House, Senate, and Statehouse all went Republican. That despite heavy union money being poured into the state elections.

Governor Scott Walker and the Republican Legislature, doing what they said they would do, went to work to fix the broken State Budget. Unions were stripped of their non-salary negotiation abilities. Wisconsin no longer has to collect union dues, leaving that to the Unions and their union members to deal with privately. (I have heard from Wisconsinites over on Hot Air that Unions have lost as much as 40 percent of their dues on this point alone.) Various Public Employee Unions now have to have recertification votes annually. This means there’s a strong likelihood that some of the PEU Locals will voluntarily decertify in the coming couple years, the members no longer being automatically forced to be Union members to have a job.

Of course, as the Budget deal and the restraint on the overbearing PEU power was being dealt with through legal means, the Unions — from Wisconsin and the rest of the nation — pumped in millions of dollars to protest, as every last Democrat Senator not only refused to show up to work, but knowing the Governor had the Constitutional authority to physically force them to the Senate floor, fled the state for Illinois as they determined to hold representative government and the people of Wisconsin hostage for their tyrannical anti-democratic agenda.

What was the protesting like? Millions of dollars of damage due to vandalism, death threats, intimidating private citizens, assaulting private citizens, breaking-and-entering, criminal trespass, intimidating businesses, ethics violations, and the list goes on. That’s what the protesting was like.

So, the Democrats, Socialists, Communists, Progressives, Union leadership (different names, same thing) spent millions of dollars and used unethical and illegal tactics in a failed attempt to intimidate the duly elected representative government into doing the opposite of what the duly elected representative government set out to do.

Then came the Wisconsin Supreme Court election. And the Democrats, Socialists, Communists, Progressives, Union leadership (from the Redundant Department of Redundancy) spent millions of dollars making the election about Governor Scott Walker. And they went on a major smear campaign, including but not limited to airing an ad using a crime victim as fodder. When the crime victim asked Kloppenburg to get the deceptive smear ads pulled, she declined to lift a finger, so he personally got involved. He has a YouTube video calling out Klops and the unhinged Left for their duplicitousness and personally supported Prosser, the man they smeared by using him.

And Prosser won re-election (or is that re-certification in this case? I’m uncertain of the lingo) despite the millions the Unions pumped into the campaign.

So, the Progressives, Socialists, Communists, Democrats, Union leadership (repeating myself redundantly, again) decided it would be a good idea to have Recall Elections. And the Conservative grass-roots, although likely becoming exhausted from the continued fight against tyranny, followed suit with Recalls of their own. (The best defense is a good offense.) During the petition-signing process, the “good” Progressives showed how “good” they are by forcefully taking recall petitions which were full of signatures to recall Fleebaggers and tore them up — a felony. They also broke into a Recall Petition Headquarters and destroyed other petitions full of signatures — multiple felonies.

And the millions of Union dollars flooded into Wisconsin, once again focusing on Scott Walker. This past Tuesday (yesterday), 6 Republican Senators faced the Recall Elections. One Republican in a Democrat district fell. One scandal-plagued Republican fell. 4 Republicans defeated the Recall. The Democrats needed at least 3 victories to flip the Senate, and they failed. Not only did the Democrats need 3 victories yesterday, they needed to defeat both of next week’s Recall attempts in order to retake the Wisconsin Senate. It’s an impossibility now for Democrats to do that. And there’s a good chance one or both of the Democrat fleebaggers could fall to the Recalls, meaning there’s a good chance the Unions pumped in well over 10 million dollars in Union Member dues to achieve a wash.

Ed Morrissey says the Unions went 0-for-2 but by my count, it’s more like 0-for-4. The Unions spent tens of millions of dollars of Union Member dues to lose four times in a row. But fear not, they plan on spending even more millions to lose a Recall Walker effort and a General Election in 2012. Out of a shrinking slush-fund pool.

The Public Employee Unions are losing in Wisconsin, Michigan, Indiana, Ohio, Tennessee, New York, New Jersey, Connecticut (where I read about a city firing all its teachers, then rehiring what they needed because the Union would not negotiate). And Obama needs those states, having won all but one in 2008. Obama won Wisconsin by 14 percent in 2008, but Democrats lost Wisconsin in 2010 and have been busily losing very loudly-fought and heavily-focused battles in Wisconsin in 2011. If Obama has to worry about a state he won by 14, he’s in deep trouble, as is the whole debased “Progressive” movement.

UPDATE: Allahpundit, the self-professed political “Eeyore”, sees little to be worried about with the fully expected Leftist attempt to Recall Governor Walker.

You’ve got to chase your dreams. Ahab had Moby Dick, Javert had Valjean, and these tools have a guy whose collective bargaining bill is a fiscal success even according to Milwaukee’s favorite newspaper.

Allahpundit’s link is to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel Online, which says in part:

The latest example is Milwaukee, where the most recent estimates show the city with a net gain of at least $11 million for its 2012 budget. That will take a slice out of the city’s structural deficit, which is created by costs rising faster than revenue, and will reduce cuts that Mayor Tom Barrett and the Common Council must impose.

The city projects it will save at least $25 million a year – the figure could be as high as $36 million in 2012 – from health care benefit and pension changes it didn’t have to negotiate with unions because of the changes wrought by the new law that ended most collective bargaining for most public employees.

That certainly will help the city deal with the $14 million in cuts in state aid in the 2011-’13 state budget.

Lest anyone suggest the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel is a Conservative newspaper (hah!), a couple things to note: Milwaukee is very Liberal, and the JS had this quote in the very article I quoted above:

[W]e still maintain he could have reached his goals without dealing a body blow to public employee unions.

That’s not at all a Conservative position. In fact, that’s a very Liberal position.

Back to Allahpundit. He quotes that site I refuse to link (if I can avoid it) discussing the fact all those outside resources won’t be available to Recall Governor Walker in 2012 because there is the Obama campaign that needs fed, a US Senate campaign that needs fed, many other political races in Wisconsin that need fed, let alone all the campaigns across the other 49 states that need fed. After spending tens of millions of outside, Union dollars in 2010 and 2011 with next to nothing to show from it, there will be too many other needs in 2012 to be focusing in on a single Governor.

Allahpundit’s conclusion:

Walker’s approval rating was below 40 percent last month, but he has four more months of good press about the effects of the CB bill to penetrate. Let’s see where he is in January. Either way, the left will try to recall him if only to save face after losing last night and against Prosser. But whether it’s an earnest effort to win or just a pro forma attempt to hassle will depend on the rest of the year. I’m not worried, and as a famous eeyore, it’s practically my job to be worried.

And Governor Scott Walker’s reaction to the Recall efforts of yesterday: